Population and Topography

Some indication of the 18th-century population and its fluctuations may be
derived from registers of baptisms and burials and from returns made to archiepiscopal visitations in 1743 and 1764. In 1743 there were said to be c. 480 families in
St. Mary's parish, c. 70 in St. Nicholas's, and c. 340 in St. John's and St. Martin's
together. (fn. 1) Perhaps one fifth of the population of St. John's and St. Martin's was
in the outlying townships which comprised St. John's parish, (fn. 2) leaving a total of some 820 families in the town itself. At 4-5 persons to a family that suggests a
total population of between 3,300 and 4,100. Similar calculations for 1764, when
there were said to be c. 500 families in St. Mary's parish, c. 80 in St. Nicholas's,
and 368 in St. John's and St. Martin's, give a total of some 870 families and a
population of between 3,500 and 4,400. (fn. 3) Mid 18th-century parish registers (fn. 4) and
19th-century census returns both suggest that St. Martin's parish contained c. 44
per cent of the town's population and St. Mary's and St. Nicholas's together c. 56
per cent. It would thus seem that the figures given by the vicar of St. Mary's in
1743 and 1764 were over-estimates and that the lower population figures of 3,300
and 3,500 respectively are the more realistic.

The population may also be estimated by an analysis of baptisms, although that
is practicable only after 1715 because of gaps in the register for St. John's and
St. Martin's (see Table 8). The estimated figures for 1741 and 1761 are similar to
those calculated from the visitation returns, and the figure for 1801 is close to the
census total of 5,401.

Table 8: POPULATION OF THE BOROUGH OF BEVERLEY, 1721-1801

Baptisms

National birth-rate per thousand

Estimated population

1721

97

33.0

2,939

1731

110

33.9

3,245

1741

108

33.7

3,205

1751

103

33.7

3,056

1761

113

33.7

3,353

1771

145

35.4

4,096

1781

156

36.1

4,321

1791

173

38.7

4,470

1801

220

38.9

5,655

The outlying townships have been excluded. Both baptisms and the birthrate are based on nine-year moving averages.Sources: baptisms: H.R.O., PE/1/4, 6-7; PE/129/6-10. Baptist, Independent, and Quaker registers have also been used: P.R.O., RG 4/1909, 2601,
3668; RG 6/870-1, 1288; national birth-rate: E. A. Wrigley and R. S.
Schofield, Population Hist. of Eng. 1541-1871, 533-4.

Despite the fluctuations shown in Table 8 it appears that by the 1740s Beverley
had experienced a modest but definite rise in population from the level calculated
from the hearth-tax return of 1672. (fn. 5) That rise presumably owed much to migration,
for the natural decrease evident in the second half of the 17th century continued
into the early 18th century. (fn. 6) During the period 1715-39 burials exceeded baptisms
in 14 years out of the 25, and there was a decrease by natural causes of 233. The
decrease was particularly severe in the epidemic years of 1720-1, when there were
318 burials and only 161 baptisms, and 1728-9, with 314 burials and 202 baptisms.
Other crisis years were 1746 and 1763. Soon after 1763, however, the population
began to rise again, increasing from c. 3,500 in 1764 to 5,401 in 1801. Since there
was a natural increase of 1,071 between those years, nearly half of the total increase
was due to migration into the town. The decennial census figures (see Table 9)
show a more modest expansion continuing until the 1830s, when in both St. Mary's
and St. Martin's parishes the population declined.

Table 9: Population of the borough and liberties of Beverley, 1801-41

St. Mary's parish

St. Martin's parish

St. Nicholas's parish

Total (borough)

St. John's parish (liberties)

1801

2,551

2,407

443

5,401

600

1811

2,918

2,639

478

6,035

696

1821

3,214

2,937

577

6,728

736

1831

3,359

3,334

739

7,432

831

1841

3,267

3,332

975

7,574

1,097

Excluding Storkhill and Sandholme, for which no figure was given.Source: V.C.H. Yorks. iii. 499.

In 1700 Beverley was still largely confined within its medieval bounds and
during the 18th century much of the growing population was housed in closely
built-up lanes and yards behind the existing streets. In contrast the houses of the
gentry and professional men occupied substantial sites both within the built-up
area and on its fringe. The late 17th-century house of the Moysers, in North Bar
Within, was set in 4 a. of formal gardens, with avenues, parterres, and statues. (fn. 7)
Other large grounds belonged to the Hothams' house in Eastgate, the Hall in
Lairgate, home of the Pennymans, Newbegin House, built for the Wartons and
bought in 1771 by John Courtney, (fn. 8) and Norwood House, built for the attorney
Jonathan Midgley. (fn. 9) The laying out of such grounds imposed limitations on further
building, especially between the centre of the town and Westwood, and suburban
growth in the 18th century, such as there was, took place mainly in North Bar
Without.

More than half of the increase in the number of taxable properties in Beverley
in the period 1796-1802 took place in the suburban ward of Without North Bar
(see Table 10). Although there were buildings outside North bar in the late 17th
century it was not until c. 1730 that more houses began to be built there, and the
laying out of New Walk in the 1780s encouraged further growth. (fn. 10) By 1801 Without
North Bar, Newbegin, Within North Bar, and Norwood wards were clearly the
most fashionable residential areas, for together they contributed 76.5 per cent of
the tax paid in the town on male servants and 87 per cent of the tax on fourwheeled carriages. In contrast, the wards of Beckside and Flemingate contributed
nothing to those taxes and Keldgate, Saturday Market, and Toll Gavel very little.
It was in the industrial and working-class residential wards of Beckside and
Flemingate that growth was most marked after 1800: the number of houses in
St. Nicholas's and St. Martin's parishes rose from 640 in 1801 to 978 in 1831. (fn. 11)

Table 10: Distribution of taxable property, 1796-1802

Number of taxable properties

Taxes paid in 1801Inhabited houses

Male servants

Carriages

Wards

1796

1802

£

% of total

£

% of total

£

% of total

Beckside

86a

86

3

2.0

—

—

—

—

Flemingate

33

35

5

3.0

—

—

—

—

Keldgate

68

72

4

2.5

4

3.0

10

5.0

Newbegin

51

59

23

14.0

27

20.0

30

14.0

Norwood

82

85

18

11.0

24

17.0

29

13.5

Saturday Market

64

63

29

17.0

3

2.0

—

—

Toll Gavel

36

45

14

8.5

6

4.5

—

—

Wednesday Market

81

83

24

14.0

19

14.0

18

8.0

Within N. Bar

71

64

32

19.0

31

22.5

89

41.5

Without N. Bar

28

51

15

9.0

24

17.0

38

18.0

Total

600

643

168

100.0

138

100.0

214

100.0

a Figure for 1792.Sources: properties: M. Noble, 'Land Tax Assessments in Study of Physical Development of Country Towns', Land and
Property: Eng. Land Tax, 1692-1832, ed. M. Turner and D. Mills, 105; taxes: H.R.O., DDBC/21/28.